Beast brings up his half-ton

Tendai Mtawarira will play in his 50th Test for South Africa when they take on New Zealand at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on Saturday.

Tendai Mtawarira will play in his 50th Test for South Africa when they take on New Zealand at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on Saturday.

It is the final round of the Rugby Championship.

The 28-year-old Mtawarira, who made his Test debut on 14 June 2008 against Wales in Pretoria, will become the 27th Springbok to reach 50 Test caps - following hot on the heels of his fellow front row forwards Bismarck and Jannie du Plessis, as well as Morné Steyn.

"He is someone who doesn't speak a lot, but you know he always gives everything he has for the Springbok jersey. It's always good to see hard work and dedication pay off like this."

There are two changes to the Springbok team that beat Australia by 28-8 in Cape Town last weekend, as well as one possible change.

Up front Bismarck du Plessis rotates with Adriaan Strauss at hooker, while Juandré Kruger comes in at lock for the suspended Flip van der Merwe.

The uncapped Franco van der Merwe has been selected on the bench.

At the back JJ Engelbrecht is bracketed at outside centre with Jan Serfontein, while Juan de Jongh will come onto the bench if needed.

"We will give JJ all the time he needs to fully recover from his quad muscle injury, but if he can't make it, Jan will start with Juan on the bench," explained Meyer.

"Juandré will slot in without any difficulty as he's been part of the squad since day one and I'm very pleased for Franco, who has been training with us for more than a year already.

"Franco's attitude since day one has been fantastic, he's waited patiently and always stayed positive, which is what we as a team stand for. On Saturday, he could make his debut against New Zealand in front of his home crowd at Ellis Park on Saturday."